'Ports not ready for offshore wind build-out Europe wants'

Europe won’t reach its ambitious offshore wind goals unless it invests sufficiently in ports, WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said during the ONS 2024 conference in Stavanger, Norway.

The continent needs to invest €8.5bn ($9.5bn) in its port infrastructure between now and 2030, with money flowing into port land expansion and reinforcing heavy loading and deep-sea harbours.

"Europe’s ports are not ready for the build-out of offshore wind Europe wants. And that’s deeply worrying,” Dickson told a panel Tuesday.

Because you can’t do offshore wind without ports. If the ports aren’t ready, then all the other huge efforts and investments that are being made across the offshore wind value chain are potentially wasted.”

The cumulative capacity of wind at sea in Europe is expected to reach 128GW by 2030, up from 34GW last year, WindEurope said in its latest outlook.

But insufficient port capacity is only one of the bottlenecks facing the industry, along with an expected installation vessel shortage towards the end of this decade and lacking offshore wind turbine manufacturing capacity.

The €8.5bn spending would be needed to upgrade or build at least 50 port facilities before 2030, WindEurope said, adding that these investments will make wind at sea cheaper and bring massive savings for electricity consumers.